CEEweb for Biodiversity is a network of non-governmental organizations in the Central and Eastern European region working for 20 years in 20 countries. Our mission is the conservation of biodiversity through the promotion of sustainable development.

Some examples

Valuation of oak planting by Eurasian Jays

Swedish scientists evaluated the oak tree planting service that Eurasian Jays Garrulus glandarius famously perform. Using the replacement cost (RC) valuation method, they found that a pair of jays in the Stockholm National Urban Park performed the work worth between $4,900 and $22,500, depending on the replacement seeding or planting technique. For the Stockholm National Urban Park, replacing jays in their planting activities would thus cost between $2,100 and $9,400 per hectare! Arguments based on calculations such as the one above can be used to legitimise spending on species conservation measures such as habitat protection and restoration of ecological connectivity. Integrating ecosystem services into mainstream economic thinking and public policy is a crucial step to securing a safe and prosperous future for humanity on Earth. You can read the full study here: Economic valuation of a seed dispersal service in the Stockholm National Urban Park, Sweden.

Biosphere 2 – can we recreate ecosystems and their functions?

Back in 1991 8 humans entered a completely sealed artificially built environment – the Biosphere 2 – to live in it for 2 years. Biosphere 2 was an experiment to see how malleable our life support system was. Can we create a self-sustaining mini-world? Do we understand the biosphere well enough to mimic its structure and functions and recreate a living system separate from the biosphere surrounding us, e.g. in space?

The experiment resulted in the levels of oxygen dropping from 20.9% down to 14.5% in 16 months and most vertebrates and pollinators became extinct. Although various claims were put forward regarding the reason for this phenomenon, it shows that our knowledge of the interlinkages between the biosphere, the atmosphere, the lithosphere and the hydrosphere is far from complete. The ecosystem service of oxygen production – one that we all depend on every single minute of every single day – is dependent on a fragile natural balance that humans have begun to disrupt.

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CEEweb is proud that as an acknowledgment of its work, its activities are financed by the European Union, the International Visegrad Fund and the GIZ, and it is thus an externally funded organisation (2017. LXXVI.).

CEEweb's webpage is generously financed by the European Union, the International Visegrad Fund and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. The contents of this website are the sole responsibility of CEEweb and and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the donors.